The
THINK! Motorcycle Safety Campaign for Urban Commuters
THINK!
motorcycle safety campaign encourages drivers in an urban
environment to "THINK! Take longer to look for bikes",
through radio and television adverts. At the same time, motorcyclist
are reminded how to make sure that they are seen with an outdoor
poster campaign. They have a 30 second television advert encouraging
urban car drivers to look longer for bikes. "How close"
shows a typical accident at a T-junction. The car driver who
is coming from a side road, has a quick glance to the right
before pulling out and turning right onto the main road. Suddenly,
a motorcycle travelling along the main road crashes into the
side of the car, leaving the motorist confused and shocked.
'How close does a biker have to be before you see them?' asks
a voice. This scenario is replayed, but this time with the
car driver looking for longer - first right, left and then
right again - while the bike passes in front of the car. The
end line reads: "THINK! Take longer to look for bikes".
The
radio advert also backs up the television message and acts
as an in-car reminder. There is a strong link between the
two elements of the campaign.
"Don't
take it in" focuses on more common scenarios when people
look but don't see. The advert reveals that every year about
1500 motorcyclists are killed or seriously injured because
drivers look but don't see.
The campaign compliments a third year of THINK! sponsorship
of the British Superbike Championship, targeting leisure riders.
The first three-year review of the Government's casualty reduction
targets in 2003 confirmed that bike riders continue to be
disproportionately represented in casualty statistics. Actually
at that time biker casualty figures were the only ones going
in the wrong direction.
There
was a drop in casualties in 2004 (compared to 2003) bikers
- who represent just 1% of road users still accounted for
17% of fatalities. 585 bikers were killed and 6,063 seriously
injured in 2004 and bringing the figures down is a top priority
for THINK! During 2003, 73% of all crashes involving a two-wheeled
motor vehicle also involved a car.
The
DfT report concluded that the common cause of motorcycle crashes
is a 'right of way violation'. The majority of these incidents
occur at T-junctions and it is usually the motorist who is
at fault. In around 65% of these particular 'right of way'
incidents, a driver fails to see a motorcyclist who should
be in clear view - a biker who is spotted by witnesses and
other road users who are present at the time. The figure of
65% does not include incidents where drivers don’t take
a restricted view into account, or fail to judge the speed
or distance of an approaching biker.
The
THINK! team worked very closely with key motorcycling associations
including the Motorcycle Industry Association, the British
Motorcyclists' Federation and the Motorcycle Action Group
- to develop this campaign. Feedback from these associations
suggests that encouraging riders and drivers to 'look out
for each other' reinforces the blame culture that exists between
the two groups.
THINK!
campaign now targets drivers and riders separately with safety
messages to prevent either side opting out of the message.
The advertisement contains a clear call to action to try and
bring about behavioural change.
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